Millburn BOE approves 2014-15 school year budget

The Millburn Board of Education approved an $88.3 million budget for the 2014-15 school year after a public hearing at the April 28 meeting. The budget, which includes a 2 percent general fund tax rate increase, will raise taxes on a township home assessed at $1 million by $114, according to the school budget newsletter posted on www.millburn.org.

Although the budget will not be subject to a public vote since school board elections have been moved to November, Finance Committee Chairwoman Emily Jaffe emphasized "the authenticity of the process."

Speaking as a new board member who was recently "on the other side of the table, she said, "I was very pleased with the diligence with which we went through every line item."

Superintendent of Schools James Crisfield said the initial draft of the budget was around $1.9 million out of balance. Cutting technology spending by more than $800,000 and allocating $200,000 more in fund balance were some of the changes made to close the gap between revenues and expenditures, he said.

The fund balance allocation is "effectively borrowing from the future years," he explained. "Next year, it's going to be $200,000 harder to get to a balanced budget."

Staffing positions remain "basically flat" in the budget, Crisfield explained. Although four full-time equivalent positions were eliminated from the budget, 4.69 full-time equivalent positions were added. Existing positions were converted to support the hiring of a psychologist for grades six through 12, a district-wide fifth grade Spanish teacher and a Curriculum Supervisor.

Another cost-curbing measure was using state ROD grants to supplement three roofing projects: $1.6 million from the capital reserve fund will be allocated, but due to the grants the district will be getting $2.8 million worth of projects.

With staff salaries and benefits making up 80 percent of the budget, however, the superintendent said staff costs will eventually "crowd out" other items in the budget if they are unchecked.

Program enhancements supported by the budget include expanding algebra classes to middle school students below the advanced level, a K-5 Spanish language program that combines software with a classroom teacher in fifth grade and a new high school elective, Problem Solving and Design, to further integrate Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) skills.

Crisfield also said costs associated with the new Common Core Curriculum Standards, which residents had inquired about at previous meetings, are not significantly impacting the budget.

However, board member Regina Truitt asked about costs related to the new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) tests to be given on computers next year.

"The costs for PARCC have to do with the network and also the number of devices," Crisfield responded. "We have spent money updating our district's network which we would have done anyway."

Some residents at the meeting disputed the assurances given about minimal Common Core costs or questioned the impact of enrollment.

Parent Marisa Christmas quoted from an article detailing Common Core costs across the state.

"Budgets are based on student count," said Josh Scharf, a former board member. Referring to the thousands of address mismatches originally reported when the VerifyResidence firm conducted a residency audit, he urged the board to reject the budget, saying it is "based on a false premise of enrollment."

In a Property Committee report at the meeting, Chairman John Westfall-Kwong reported that 27 out of 46 parents and guardians responded to the district's letter regarding documentation of residency. The Committee was originally working with a list of 52 priority names after the district reconciled reports for each database analyzed, but six of the addresses were from pre-school parents or guardians whose residency had been confirmed with all valid documents during the registration process within this school year, he said.

"Staff will call and email (when email addresses are available) the 19 non-respondents," said Westfall-Kwong. "A standard script will be developed, so all non-respondents receive the same message from the district."

The Committee also requested that the Policy Committee examine a policy regarding tuition reimbursement collection for any students who've been deemed nonresidents of the district, he added.

The budget presentation given at the meeting will be posted on www.millburn.org, and a user-friendly budget document will also be posted on the district website.